F4 Japanese Championship Explained

F4 Japanese Championship
Category:FIA Formula 4
Country:Japan
Inaugural2:2015
Constructors:Toray Carbon Magic
Engines:TOM'S Toyota
Tyres:Dunlop (Sumitomo)
Champion Driver: Rikuto Kobayashi
Champion Team: TGR-DC Racing School
Website:Official website
Current Season: F4 Japanese Championship

The [1] is a formula racing series held in Japan regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was held in 2015.

History

Gerhard Berger and the FIA Single Seater Commission launched the current FIA Formula 4 in March 2013.[2] The goal of FIA Formula 4 was to make the ladder to Formula 1 more transparent. Besides sporting and technical regulations, costs are regulated too: Any eligible car may not exceed a purchase price of €30,000. A single season in Formula 4 may not exceed €100,000 in costs.

The F4 Japanese Championship was launched by the GT Association on 16 December 2014, as one of the second phases of Formula 4 championships to be launched following the Italian F4 Championship and Formula 4 Sudamericana which launched in 2014.[1] All rounds are support events to the Super GT Series.

Japanese race car constructor Dome was contracted to design and build the spec F110 chassis.[1] The cars are constructed out of carbon fibre and feature a monocoque chassis. The engine is a 2.0-litre TOM'S Toyota inline-four. Dunlop (Sumitomo Rubber Industries) is the tyre supplier.

The series is open to drivers aged 16 and up.[3] While primarily contested by young drivers moving up the single-seater ladder, older amateur drivers also compete in the series in the Independent Cup category.

A second-generation F4 Japanese Championship car built by Toray Carbon Magic, called the MCSC-24, was first revealed in 2022 and will debut in 2024, with an integrated halo safety device and a more powerful TOM'S Toyota engine.[4]

Point system

Position 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th 
Points20151210864321

Champions

All teams and drivers were Japanese-registered.

Drivers

scope=colSeasonscope=colDriverscope=colTeamscope=colPolesscope=colWinsscope=colPodiumsscope=col width="40"Fastest lapsscope=colPointsscope=colClinchedscope=col width="50"Margin
Sho Tsuboi TOM'S Spirit47104Race 14 of 143
Ritomo Miyata TOM'S Spirit2253142Race 14 of 144
Ritomo Miyata TOM'S Spirit54116231Race 14 of 147
Yuki Tsunoda Honda Formula Dream Project87114245Race 14 of 1414
Ren Sato Honda Formula Dream Project811135311Race 10 of 14164
Hibiki Taira TGR-DC Racing School710124270.5Race 10 of 1290
Seita Nonaka TGR-DC Racing School1685217Race 14 of 144
2022 Syun Koide Honda Formula Dream Project89126279Race 14 of 1433
2023 Rikuto Kobayashi TGR-DC Racing School5594221Race 14 of 1412
2024 HFDP with B-Max Racing TeamRace of 14

Teams

Season Team scope=colPolesscope=colWinsscope=colPodiumsscope=col width="40"Fastest lapsscope=colPointsscope=col width="50"Margin
2015 TOM'S Spirit471042259
2016 Honda Formula Dream Project1212320321
2017 Honda Formula Dream Project91126631483
2018 Honda Formula Dream Project1210237316106
2019 Honda Formula Dream Project14142514350213
2020 TGR-DC Racing School710174273.593
2021 TGR-DC Racing School38171028525
2022 Honda Formula Dream Project1012237336111
2023 TGR-DC Racing School6822529058
2024 HFDP with B-Max Racing Team

Independent Cup

scope=colSeasonscope=colDriverscope=colTeamscope=colWins (Indep/Cup)scope=colPodiums (Indep/Cup)scope=colPoints (Indep/Cup)scope=col width="50"Margin
2018 Masayuki Ueda Rn-sports2102076
2019 Sergeyevich Sato Field Motorsport51124159
2020 Sergeyevich Sato Field Motorsport61022527.5
2021 "Hirobon" Rn-sports41123815
2022 Yutaka Toriba HELM Motorsports1012306104
2023 Makoto Fujiwara B-Max Racing Team3519112
2024 B-Max Racing Team

Circuits

NumberCircuitsRoundsYears
1 Fuji Speedway202015–present
2 Suzuka International Racing Course132015–present
3 Mobility Resort Motegi112015–present
4 Sportsland Sugo92015–2019, 2021–present
5 Autopolis72015, 2017–2019, 2022–present
6 Okayama International Circuit52015–2019

In other media

The 2023 anime Overtake! is based around the F4 Japanese Championship.

Notes and References

  1. News: F4 JAPANESE CHAMPIONSHIP selects Dunlop Tire as its official designated tire. 16 December 2014. Super GT. GT–Association. 15 February 2015.
  2. Web site: FIA reveals Formula 4 plan. Autosport. 15 February 2015.
  3. Web site: DOME CO., LTD. . 2024-05-02 . DOME CO., LTD. . ja.
  4. Web site: Wood . Ida . 2022-08-10 . Japanese F4 reveals Gen2 design to be introduced in 2024 . 2024-05-02 . Formula Scout . en-US.